Premium tequila brand DeLeón is building excitement for its new Leóna tequila with an end-of-the-world multichannel campaign to lure users to try the new spirit.

The tequila maker is releasing its tequila Dec. 21 on the day the Mayan calendar ends. The new tequila is being promoted through print advertisements, its own Web site and a kick-off event.

“Leóna is a superior spirit as its purity is unparalleled,” said Brent Hocking, founder/CEO of DeLeón Tequila, Venice, CA. “We are promoting Leóna through various magazines, billboards and private preview tasting events nationally and internationally.”

“We created the Web site in anticipation of the release on Dec. 21, which was the last day of civilization according to the Mayan calendar,” he said.

End of civilization

The official debut of Leóna will take place with an event on Dec. 21, which some believe is the end of the world.

Leóna is presented as a luxurious drink appropriate for the last night on Earth.

“Associating the end of the Mayan calendar with the tequila is an edgy way to suggest the tequila is something special,” said Ron Kurtz, president of American Affluence Research Center, Atlanta. “This is sort of a way to suggest that Leona is the way to live it up before the end arrives.”

Leóna is 100 percent blue weber agave aged 34 months in barrels.

The reserve tequila will retail for approximately $1,029 for 750ml, per retailers listed on DeLeón’s Web site.

“Leóna’s packaging, complete with a black python skin flask is unique to DeLeón,” DeLeón’s Mr. Hocking said. “Its quality is being compared to a 40-year-old Highland Park scotch or a 60-year-old Cognac.”

The last drink

DeLeón is making use of the internet, an event, print advertisements and social media to promote Leóna.

The brand took out two pages in the November Robb Report Host’s Guide Holiday 2012 supplement to advertise Leóna.

Leóna’s Web site allows consumers to learn more about the Mayan legend and the tequila. Lists of distributors and a link to DeLeón’s Web site are also given.

The Web site plays Depeche Mode’s “Fly On The Windscreen” when viewed.

Leóna Web site

“The Web site gives DeLeón an opportunity to present its message with a combination of sound and visual,” American Affluence Research Center’s Mr. Kurtz said. “The image and appeal of a spirit is heavily determined by how it is packaged and promoted.”

Furthermore, the Web site may help DeLeón measure its traffic from the Robb Report ad and help the brand build more of a following around Leóna, per Mr. Kurtz.

“The various aspects of this promotion all contribute to the creation of an edgy image of the product,” Mr. Kurtz said.